Veiled Existence

by Pietron, Barbara;

A shot of adrenaline bumped up the tempo of his pulse. “Sure…I mean, I’ve been nervous since Jeni left Michigan.”

  “How about lately?” Nik asked.

  “It’s gotten worse every day. Why?”

  “Most of the Midewiwin weren’t surprised to hear about the underwater monster. They felt a disturbance. I felt it too. Even though the manitou has been quiet since yesterday, we’re going to perform a ceremony to draw the attention of the Thunderers.”

  “Good.” Ice let go of the breath he’d been holding, relieved that the medicine man society wasn’t taking any chances with the malevolent creature Jeni encountered in June.

  “It would be prudent to let Jeni know what’s happening.”

  “Yeah…” Ice wrinkled his nose. “I was thinking the same thing. Man, I can’t wait until I’m on the boat tomorrow and can stop worrying so much.”

  “I don’t know, Ice. I guess we’ll see if the perception of menace dissipates after the ceremony, but I’m not convinced it will.”

  Cold spread through Ice’s chest. He opened his mouth to ask more questions, just as Danny emerged from the dining hall, swiveling his head left and right. Ice raised a hand, flagging his roommate.

  “I’d better get back to the meeting,” Nik said.

  Ice agreed reluctantly. “Yeah, my roommate’s here.”

  “Be careful, Ice. And stay alert. Something is coming. It’s coming strong and it’s coming fast.”

  The sky resembled the bottom of a soggy firepit and drizzle intermittently spat on the decks making it a perfect day to spend indoors. Jeni and Carolyn entered the Iowa Lounge in time to hear the end of Aunt Jessie’s sentence. “…out on the table so we can all see what’s in them.”

  Since all of her mom’s siblings were on the trip, a few boxes of her grandpa’s stuff had been carted along for distribution. Family members milled around three boxes, each on their own table. Jeni remembered her dad bringing the white boxes with lids—originally for reams of paper—home from work.

  Aunt Leila attempted to lift a sizable object from the nearest carton as her son, Nat, pulled on her leg. She smiled gratefully when Jeni stepped forward to relieve her of the heavy volume, which turned out to be a photo album. Leila picked up Nat and moved aside as the girls took over, spreading the books on the table.

  After retiring from an automotive company, Jeni’s grandpa had traveled the world, documenting his adventures on film. Once home, he chronicled the trip with pictures, maps, postcards and other memorabilia, making the photo album a visual aid to accompany the narrative of his excursions abroad.

  Jeni’s lips curved, remembering how her younger self had been in awe of the places so different from anything she’d ever seen. When the grown-ups put the albums aside, she’d page through them at her leisure, pouring over the pictures and trying to pronounce the strange names.

  “Wow. Your grandpa really did travel a lot,” Carolyn said, reading the spines of the albums, titled by country.

  From the corner of her eye Jeni noticed Jake and Josie enter the lounge, followed by Tyler carrying Molly. The little girl’s hands clamped the sides of her uncle’s face, smashing his features and her delighted giggles brightened the day. A scene like that made Jeni wonder why Tyler couldn’t be fun-loving all the time. What made him change into a cocky smart-aleck?

  Jeni’s mom approached the table. “I’d really like to have this China album.” She flipped the binder open to study one of the pages.

  “Well, there are enough of these that each of his kids could take an album. Or two.” Jeni removed another volume, passing it to Carolyn without really looking at it, her eyes focused at the bottom of the box.

  Yellowed pages poking from a manila folder piqued her curiosity. Using two hands, she lifted it out and set it on the table, moving the empty box to the floor. Opening the folder, she saw a newspaper article with the headline: SEVEN DROWN IN BOATING ACCIDENT. Frowning, she flipped to another article: MISSISSIPPI CRESTS HIGHEST SINCE 1927 FLOOD.

  “What is this, Mom?” Her lunch sat heavy in her stomach as she browsed what seemed to be a collection of Mississippi River deaths and disasters along with obituaries.

  Her mom bent over for a closer look. “I’m not sure. I saw those were old newspaper articles so I thought it was some kind of memorabilia.”

  “Morbid-abilia is more like it.” Jeni glanced to Carolyn, who was inspecting the articles, too. “I know grandpa grew up in New Orleans near the river, but why would he keep this stuff about drownings and floods?”

  Her mom tapped a finger on her chin. “Are you sure that’s what all of this is?”

  “Look.” Jeni paged slowly through the folder.

  “I don’t think this is something you want to spend your time looking at.” Concern lined her mom’s brow.

  “Yeah, you’re right.” Jeni closed the folder.

  She’d had to tell her mom about the nightmares.

  The debilitating dreams began when she delved into her family history, a few weeks after returning from their trip to Lake Itasca to spread her grandpa’s ashes. But her harrowing experience with the underwater monster was not the subject of her nightmares. Images of figures—some human-like, others skeletal or part animal—plagued her. The beings held out their arms, inviting her, seducing her, drawing her in to their world.

  The appearance of these spirits, or whatever they were, wasn’t the most alarming part of the dreams. It was the feeling. Jeni felt as if she were falling or being sucked into an abyss; a place with a force field so strong she would never be able to extract herself.

  It was that fear—the fear of never coming back—that ultimately snapped her back to wakefulness.

  At first she didn’t make the connection. But the further she dug into her genealogy, the more frequent the nightmares, until Jeni dreaded even the thought of going to bed. By the time she linked the dreams to her research, her mom had noticed the dark circles under Jeni’s eyes and her wan complexion. After telling her mom about the nightmares, Jeni buried her grandpa’s folder of family history information underneath a stack of Teen Vogue magazines on her bookshelf.

  The frequency of the bad dreams declined slowly. Because Jeni hadn’t voiced her suspicions about the genealogy research, her mom tried to limit Jeni’s exposure to any sort of disturbing subject matter. Sometimes that was a pain, like when her mom questioned her judgment about a movie she wanted to see, but today, Jeni agreed with her mom. Her life was approaching normal, and she wanted to keep it that way.

  Someone called her mom away and Jeni was going to put the folder back in the box when a voice said, “What’s that stuff?” She jerked in surprise, then saw Jake approach, Tyler just behind him.

  After last night, Jeni had expected that Tyler would make himself scarce, particularly around Carolyn. He drew up to the table though, on the other side of Jake, and reached for the folder before she could stop him.

  Jeni’s scan of the other tables for a reason to move along wasn’t quick enough. His eyes on an article, Tyler said, “Can you believe some people think floods and drownings are actually caused by monsters?”

  Three sets of eyes regarded him in silence for a moment. Jeni clamped her lips shut. He was baiting her. She refused to give him the satisfaction and bite.

  Carolyn was first to speak. “Uh, I think they told those stories to scare kids so stuff like this didn’t happen.”

  Jeni could’ve hugged her.

  Jake struggled to keep a straight face. “Been watching a lot of Jeopardy, Ty?”

  Refusing to be ruffled, Tyler pinned Jeni with a stare. “Nope. I picked that up on our last family trip.”

  Crossing her arms over her chest, Jeni said, “I’m not going to stand here while you mock Native Americans.” She took Carolyn’s elbow and steered her from the room.

  Her best friend was aware of the claims that Ice had
made about Jeni’s spirituality, but when the events at Lake Itasca had become complicated, Jeni let the subject drop.

  Ice’s phone was balanced on his knee, the black screen face up. It was on mute so none of the ringers or chimes would interrupt the various speakers philosophizing about how students could make the most of their college years. He’d texted with Jeni a little at the beginning of the orientation session, but he hadn’t mentioned the underwater monster. The news would be best delivered by voice, not text.

  The last speaker stepped away from the podium and Ice stood. “Do you know where the closest restrooms are?” he asked Danny.

  “I think to the left, at the end of the hall, maybe?” Danny lifted his chin at a group of guys a few rows down.

  As they emerged into the aisle, Ice said, “I’ll catch up with you later.” Not waiting for a response, he took large strides to the exit at the top of the auditorium. When he reached the hallway, he didn’t turn left; he turned right, heading for the stairway that would take him to ground level and the outer doors.

  Once outside, he placed the call to Jeni.

  “Hi Ice.”

  At the sound of her voice, his shoulders dropped. The conversation with Nik had him spooked. “Hey. How’s it going?”

  “The weather sucks, but otherwise okay. How was orientation?”

  “Repetitive. They probably could’ve told us everything in half the time.” Ice realized he was pounding the pavement with no particular destination in mind so he slowed his pace. “Listen, Jeni. Nik told me something you should know.”

  “What is it?”

  Her question contained the expected note of apprehension. Ice had considered not telling her, but the tone of Nik’s final words changed his mind. The usual unflappable and confident medicine man had sounded unnerved.

  “Nik called to let me know the underwater monster was active yesterday. He’s still contained,” he rushed to add. “And he’s also fallen silent. The Midewiwin are gathered at Itasca State Park and they’re going to have a ceremony, just to be sure he remains subdued.”

  Silence stretched out on the phone line. Finally Jeni spoke. “Does anyone know why he was active? Does Nik think it was me?”

  “No.” Ice deliberately didn’t mention that Nik asked if Jeni had been in the river. “He just thought you should know and be extra careful.”

  “It’s not like I’m close by.” She used the voice he’d become familiar with anytime the events at Lake Itasca came up—a depressed wistfulness—hating the circumstances and wishing vehemently it would all go away.

  “Exactly. It probably has nothing to do with you.”

  Jeni detected the false note in his tone. “But it’s too coincidental to overlook.”

  His dorm in sight, Ice decided to stop off, unsure what Danny’s plans were. He took a right turn to an open courtyard and sat down on a bench. “What matters is that the monster remains trapped.” His text chime sounded during the last statement. “Hang on. Let me see who this text is from.”

  Taking the phone from his ear, Ice checked his messages, fairly certain it wouldn’t be Nik. Nik hated to text. It was Danny, asking if Ice wanted anything to drink for the party tonight. “They’ll have a keg, but I didn’t know if you were a hard liquor guy.”

  “Crap,” he said out loud. He’d forgotten about the party.

  “What is it?” Jeni asked.

  Ice ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. “Danny. His brother is throwing a birthday party for him tonight. He asked me to go. I told him no but then he played the roommate card and I thought I should get things off to a good start. Maybe I’ll back out.”

  Jeni sighed loudly. “Okay, I kind of can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe you should go to the party.” She sounded relieved at the subject change.

  “What?”

  “You’re right,” she said. “You have to live with him all year. Besides, what are you going to do otherwise? Worry?”

  Ice chuckled. “Yeah, actually, that’s exactly what I would do. Well, that and maybe get some sleep since I’ll be up early tomorrow.”

  “Maybe you can just put in an appearance.”

  “That was my original thought. Danny said he’d stay the night at his brother’s so I can take off whenever I want to.” In a softer tone, “I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such a cool girlfriend.”

  “You can mention how cool I am when you show my picture to the girls at the party.” He could hear the smile in her words.

  “Excellent plan. I’ll do that.” Ice typed a response to Danny. “No thanks, I’ll be the DD.”

  “What time do you think you’ll get to La Crosse tomorrow?”

  “I’d like to leave here at seven, which would get me there around nine. Do you have any idea when the boat gets in?”

  “No, the information’s not that specific. I get the impression we’ll be docked when we wake up.” The thought that they’d be together soon seemed to spark her enthusiasm.

  His mouth crooked up. “Wish I could be there when you wake up.”

  Jeni’s hesitation made him wonder if maybe he’d misread her mood shift. Then she replied in a soft voice, “If you were, I’d think I was still dreaming.”

  “Then I guess I’d have to pinch you.”

  Her laugh was the one Ice loved to hear, rich with genuine amusement. “That’s not quite what I had in mind.”

  “Mmm, then I assume you’ll let me know what you have in mind when I see you?”

  “You’ll just have to wait and find out.”

  Ice wished he could fast forward past the party, the rest of the night, and the drive so he could be with her. A husky chuckle rumbled from his throat. “No hints?”

  Jeni giggled. “Maybe later. Carolyn’s waiting for me.”

  “All right. I’ll let you go.” The end of the call hung suspended for a moment. “Talk to you later,” he finally said.

  Ice blew out a heavy breath as he ended the connection. Simply saying “good-bye” had become woefully inadequate.

  He’d managed to visit Jeni in July by volunteering to be the storyteller for a traveling Native American cultural program. Being on the road provided plenty of time to think, and his thoughts had been consumed by Jeni. Unaware how transparent his fixation was, Sam, the trip coordinator, surprised Ice with a comment when they were at a restaurant somewhere in suburban Illinois. Ice had been gazing out the window at a couple walking to their car. He’d hardly noticed Sam’s chuckle until the man spoke. “You have the face of Shawondasee, Ice.”

  Startled, Ice turned his attention to Sam. “What?”

  “You’re like Shawondasee, breezing over his golden girl,” the man said with a grin.

  Ice laughed, realizing that Sam was teasing him with one of the stories Ice told as part of the cultural program. The legend was about Shawondasee, the South Wind and his love for a dandelion.

  “Have you told her?” Sam asked.

  Ice shook his head numbly, stupefied by the sudden insight that he’d fallen in love.

  “Well don’t wait until her hair turns white and blows away,” Sam advised with a wink.

  Thinking it over later, Ice wished he would’ve had the enlightenment while he was still in Michigan. Every time he’d talked to Jeni since then, the urge to blurt out his feelings became stronger. But once she’d told him about the riverboat cruise, he decided to wait. He wanted to be face to face when he told Jeni that he loved her.

  He had no reason to think it was a decision he might come to regret.

  Ice followed Danny’s directions to a residential area on the edge of campus populated by old, wood-construction homes that appeared well-used. Mostly two-story houses, some displayed large Greek letters above the front door or below the peak of the roof. Cars clogged the streets and driveways and Ice had to drive past the house Doug lived in, f
inally finding a place to park around the corner.

  Danny entered the front door without knocking and Ice stepped in behind him, immediately recognizing the sour smell of fermentation. The room to their right contained a pool table and a few dinette chairs. Gray scuffs from pool cues marked the walls. A guy with his back to them bent over the table to rack the balls while his opponent chalked a stick. To their left, about a half-dozen guys and a few girls lounged in a larger room with the television on. One of the guys bounced up as soon as Danny and Ice came in. “Little bro!” He clapped Danny on the back. “The man of the hour. Somebody get him a beer!” The manner in which he spoke—and the shape of his mouth and nose—gave him away as Danny’s brother, Doug. His hair was darker and straighter than Danny’s, and he lacked his little brother’s bulk, yet the family resemblance was evident.

  Danny smiled broadly, and then motioned to Ice. “This is my roommate, Ice.”

  “Make that two beers!” Doug shouted. “Welcome, Ice.” He pumped Ice’s hand.

  Before Ice could turn down the beer, Danny’s brother ducked into the living room to retrieve his glass mug half-full of golden liquid. “So how do you get a sweet nickname like Ice?” He herded the two boys down the hallway.

  Ice had already explained his unusual name to Danny, letting him know his full Ojibwe name was Shattered Ice, given for his fragmented blue eyes. He glanced to his roommate who looked oblivious to the conversation, eyes fixed on the keg in the kitchen. Deciding there wasn’t time for an explanation before they reached the next room—which was alive with chatter—Ice chose the easy answer, “Play a lot of hockey.”

  Doug laughed as they entered the kitchen. The medium-sized room contained close to a dozen kids, leaning against the counters or standing near the keg. Someone must’ve heard Doug’s shouts from the living room, because a guy with thick russet hair turned and handed Danny a blue plastic cup, sloshing a little foam onto the floor in the process.

  The guy made eye contact with Ice, another cup in one hand and the tap in the other. “You’re next.”